PIUMA officers have been invited to send two representatives to a seminar organised by a network of youth living with HIV/AIDS in Dar es Salaam from the 20th of April to the 24th.

The members of PIUMA who will attend are Esterina Swalloh from Mwakauta and Nasibu Ntullo from Utanziwa, both committed volunteers and accomplished local HIV activists.

While in Dar es Salaam, the PIUMA representatives will meet with the Dar-based members of the PIUMA Advisory Board.

Increasingly, PIUMA is being recognized for its leadership in Makete and invited to participate in training events, with the support of local District authorities.

In January, Ofesa Sanga and Alanyibata Sanga attended a two week training program in Njombe on fighting the stigmatization of PLWHAs. Ofesa and Alanyibata praised the training , saying that they learned a lot regarding human rights and stigma.

PIUMA sees basic health care, including access to HIV counselling, testing, and treatment, as a human right. The organization's work is rooted in deep Tanzanian traditions of individual respect and democratic decision-making at the village and district levels. PIUMA is proud to be a contributing part of the greater national effort to fight the AIDS pandemic. It has, for example, sponsored clinics that have tested more than 2000 people in the past 10 months as its contribution to President Jakaya Kikwete's campaign to test all Tanzanians for HIV.

As its name says, PIUMA believes that people can "test and live in hope" -- pima ili uishi kwa matumaini!